Abstract:
Objective: To determine whether blood culture contamination (BCC) rates could be decreased in the ED by an educational programme.
Methods: Educational intervention focusing on a 1-min venepuncture cleaning time and providing a larger chlorhexidine alcohol swab. BCC rates were examined retrospectively 12-month pre-, and 9-month post-intervention.
Results: Six thousand nine hundred and fifty-three blood cultures were collected over the study period. The BCC rate was 2.4% pre-intervention versus 1.8% post-intervention, with no significant difference in BCC rates (Z-score = 1.862, P = 0.063).
Conclusion: This educational intervention focusing on skin clean time did not significantly decrease BCC rates in a setting of an already low (<3%) BCC rate.
Reference:McNab L, Varndell W, Vecellio E, Chiew AL. Clean the skin: Reducing blood culture contamination in the emergency department. Emerg Med Australas. 2022 Sep 29. doi: 10.1111/1742-6723.14092. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36176210.